Across the Twin Cities, artists are turning denim into protest art, recasting the goddess Venus in their own image and building altars for Día de los Muertos. Meanwhile, Minnesota writers are celebrating the release of three new books that place people of color at the heart of their stories.
Honoring the departed
At the Midtown Global Market on Friday, children can decorate bags, collect candy and get their faces painted for an evening of trick-or-treating. On Saturday, a Día de los Muertos celebration invites the community to create flower crowns, paint styrofoam skulls, sculpt soap figures, or get a sugar-skull makeover. Visitors are also invited to contribute photos of loved ones to a community altar. Live performances throughout the day will feature Los Rebeldes, Miguel Angel Fernandez, Kalpulli KetzalCoatlicue, and Ballet Folklorico Mexico Azteca.
Date: Friday, Oct. 31 for trick-or-treating. Saturday, Nov. 1, for Día de los Muertos celebration
Time: 5 to 7 p.m. on Friday. 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday
Location: Midtown Global Market, 920 E. Lake St., Minneapolis
Cost: Free
For more information: Visit midtownglobalmarket.org/events
Reimagining the goddess of love
Public Functionary’s annual showcase of early-career and emerging artists of color returns on Saturday with this year’s installment, “Venus Reincarnated,” curated by Dominican historian and scholar Margarita Lila Rosa. The exhibit features 22 Minneapolis-based artists reinterpreting Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty through textile art, illustrations, paintings, animation and more.
The gallery will also open “My flowers died; So I’ll bury them and plant new ones,” a solo exhibit by Silent Fox. Using acrylic painting, drawing, screen printing and virtual reality, Silent Fox explores grief, transformation and the ways we process loss.
Date: Saturday, Nov. 1 through Dec. 6
Time: 1 to 5 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays. 2 to 6 p.m. on Saturdays. Opening reception for “Venus Reincarnated” from 6 to 10 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 1.
Location: Public Functionary, 1500 Jackson St. N.E., Studio 144, Minneapolis
Cost: Free
For more information: Visit publicfunctionary.org/exhibits
Denim statements of liberation
Blackbird Revolt, an abolitionist design studio, will present “Resist & Reclaim” at the University of Minnesota’s Goldstein Museum of Design on Saturday. The exhibit features 20 Black and Indigenous women artists from the Twin Cities — including Terresa Hardaway, Leslie Barlow, Maggie Thompson and Thomasina TopBear — who have transformed second-hand denim jackets from Bresale, a Black woman-owned fashion shop in Minneapolis, using screen printing, beadwork, crochet and painting.
As part of the project, Blackbird Studio in Minneapolis will host a “Denim & Quilt Workshop” from 6 to 8 p.m. on Nov. 18, where attendees can create art on denim squares. The finished pieces will become part of a collaborative denim quilt that will be displayed in the exhibit.
Date: Saturday, Nov. 1 through Feb. 28.
Time: 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. Opening reception from 5 to 8 p.m. on Nov. 6.
Location: Goldstein Museum of Design, McNeal Hall, 1985 Buford Ave., St. Paul
Cost: Free
For more information: Visit design.umn.edu/research/goldstein-museum-design/exhibitions/resist-and-reclaim
Fall reads by local authors
As the weather cools, it’s the perfect time to curl up with a good book. From poetry collections to children’s stories and community cookbooks, writers of color show that change begins with care and community. Here are three new releases from Minnesota authors to add to your fall reading list.
- Revolutions Are Made of Love
When Korean American poet Sun Yung Shin first met Chinese American activist Grace Lee Boggs at her Detroit home in 2004, she didn’t know the encounter would inspire a children’s book two decades later.
“Even in her 90s, her presence was extremely formidable,” Shin said of Boggs. “She was very brisk but also welcoming. She had a lot of energy, a lot of mental stamina. She talked to us for hours.”
Shin co-wrote “Revolutions Are Made of Love” with Mélina Mangal, illustrated by Leslie Barlow, to capture Boggs’ activism, her interracial marriage to Black union organizer James Boggs and her legacy as a bold Asian American woman. Shin’s poems in the book focus on Grace Lee Boggs, and Mangal’s poems highlight the life of James Boggs.
“We wanted to make sure that we included as much as we could about their childhoods, so that kids could see themselves,” Shin said. “They both came from very humble origins. You don’t need to come from great wealth or a necessarily educated family to make a difference in your community.”
Join the trio for launch events at the University Stores Building on Thursday, Oct. 30 and at The Loft on Saturday, Nov. 1.
- Back of House
Photographers Ryan Stopera and Diana Albrecht take readers “Back of House,” where immigrant chefs from 12 different countries — including Armenia, Haiti, Mexico, South Korea, Togo and Vietnam — share their ancestral cuisines. Through photography, essays and recipes, the book explores how food connects family and community. Minneapolis’ Bar Brava will host a launch event from 6 to 10 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 8.
- The House on Rondo
Travel back to St. Paul in 1963, when the Black community of Rondo was displaced to make way for Interstate 94. “The House on Rondo” by Debra J. Stone follows 13-year-old Zenobia as her family faces eviction. As Zenobia joins a protest to save her neighborhood, the novel highlights both the challenges and resilience of a community under pressure. The Hennepin History Museum will host a reading and discussion event with Stone at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 6.
